India has decided to remove retaliatory duties on eight American products, responding to the decision by the United States of America (USA) to exempt 70 percent of requests on steel and 80 percent of requests on aluminium from India from additional scrutiny.

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Government sources have told CNBC-TV18 that an additional duty of 20 percent each on fresh apples, boric acid, diagnostic reagents, lentils and walnuts will go; apart from a 10 percent additional duty on chickpeas, Rs 7 per kilogram on dried or fresh almonds and Rs 20 per kilogram on shelled.

According to sources, the end of the retaliatory duties against the US by October 2023 will have limited repercussions on the Indian market, primarily resulting in a shift in the market share among various suppliers. Consequently, products such as American apples will now compete with Iran and other countries for a pie of the Indian market.

In 2018, the United States levied a 25 percent import duty on steel and 10 percent import duty on many aluminium products from India citing reasons for national security, which prompted the imposition of retaliatory duties by India on 20 American products in June 2019.

On June 23, 2023, Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that six pending WTO disputes between India & the US have been bilaterally settled during PM Modi's visit and both the countries also aim to settle their only pending WTO dispute, on avian and poultry, this year itself.

Both countries are also slated to commence discussions soon on India's demand for the reinstatement of GSP benefits.

As India's largest trading partner, bilateral goods trade between India and the US rose to $128.8 billion in 2022-23 compared to $119.5 billion in 2021-22.

Sources clarified that there is no reduction on MFN duty on apples which is still applicable on all imported apples, including the US, at 50 percent. The import of apples from the US has decreased from $ 145 million (1,27,908 tonnes) in FY 2018-19 to $ 5.27 million (4,486 tonnes) in FY 2022-23 while import from the rest of the world was stable in the range of $ 239-305 million (except in 2021-22 when it was $385 million).

US’ import share in the apple market was taken by countries like Turkey, Chile, New Zealand and Italy. Sources added that apples from the US would now compete on a level playing field with other countries, assuring that this won't result in any additional negative impact on domestic apple producers.

Govt sources added that a DGFT notification issued on May 8 imposed an MIP (Minimum import price) of Rs. 50 per kg for all apples, except from Bhutan, to protect domestic growers from predatory pricing and cheap imports.

Indian apple growers will continue to gain from the 50% MFN duty and the MIP of Rs 50/kg and the removal of additional duties from American apples will result in ensuring better quality fruits at better prices for consumers.

Quantity in Thousand KGs and Value in US$ million

Importing Countries (Sorted according to last year import) (Thousand kg/ US $ mn)

India’s Apple Import from USA (Values in US$ Million &Quantity in Thousand KGS)

Source: DGCI&S Kolkata

First Published:Jun 26, 2023 3:53 PM IST